Before a show, I usually give myself two-and-a-half hours to get ready. I prepare my shoes first. New ballet pumps can sound like tap shoes. You have to take the noise out of them by hitting them against stone. It takes half an hour to do each pair, and I can go through three pairs in one night.

Darcey Bussell

Against Ballet Before Each First Get Give Go Half Hitting Hour Hours I Can Like Myself New Night Noise Out Pair Pairs Prepare Ready Shoes Show Sound Stone Take Takes Tap Them Three Through You

Related Quotes

Fonteyn was our first proper British ballerina, and from the moment I started dancing, her image engulfed me. In my first year at the Royal Ballet School, Margot's statue was outside my dormitory. Like generations of budding ballet dancers before me, I used to touch her middle finger for luck.

— Darcey Bussell

BallerinaBalletBefore

I can tan quickly. What takes people hours to do, I can tan in half an hour.

— George Hamilton

Everything is not beautiful at the ballet. It's tough.

— Darcey Bussell

BalletBeautifulEverything

When I coach dancers, I always like to get on the dance floor with them or describe something by showing them.

— Darcey Bussell

AlwaysCoachDance

Ballet requires movements which are very unnatural. With every step, you do a circular movement of the hip. You turn out from the hip and make your knees point out to the side instead of forward.

— Darcey Bussell

BalletCircularEvery